I think we have finally crossed over from summer into autumn. It was 57° in the kitchen when I woke up this morning (and 37° outside), so I figured that was as good a reason as any to flip on the switch for the furnace. It turned out to be a lovely sunny day, but it never did get up over 60 out there. I had to wear a jacket whilst mowing the lawn.

---I took a ride down to the bike shop to see if bikeshop!guy had finished tuning up the three-speed I left there two weeks ago. Of course he hadn't, but there was no one in the shop, so he did it while I wandered around the shop. I really do wonder how he stays in business sometimes. He only charged me $30 for the tune up. By comparison, last time I had the Univega tuned up (at a different shop, 18 months ago), it was $70. Granted, derailleur bikes usually require a little more fiddling, but still. I also got some winter bike gloves, and a retro mirror for the bike, and he gave me a discount on those, too. The best part is that it all came off the credit slip I have from the sale of the Widowmaker.

I really lucked into a bargain with this bike. As bikeshop!guy said when I first showed it to him, it's pristine. Everything except the saddle is original to the bike, and it's all in a lot better shape for being forty or so years old than I was at that age. When I got it home I swapped over the old Vetta C-10 bike computer from the Univega (which will get a Schwinn unit like the Absolute has). Then I took it down to the bike path for a jaunt.

It really is fun to ride. It's sort of like trading in an F-15 for a Sopwith Camel. It's noticeably smaller than my other two bikes, but once I get going, it never feels weird to ride like the Widowmaker did. It turns on the proverbial dime. I would never want to take it anywhere I'd have to climb real hills, but it handles the grades on the path just fine in low gear. I do need to raise the saddle some, and probably the handlebar to match. And it's still amazing to me how easy this handlebar configuration is on my wrists compared to the other two bikes.

The only negative to the ride was that when the sun ducked behind the trees (and the path is mostly wooded) it was damned chilly out there. I was wishing I'd worn the winter gloves.